


Deck the Halls (2019 Frozen Advent)

by Annoff



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: 2019 Christmas Advent Fic, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21638758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annoff/pseuds/Annoff
Summary: A collection of short Christmas themed fics for Kristoff and Anna, set in both canon and modern au universes.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 109





	1. A Christmas Eve Visit

**Author's Note:**

> This first fic is set in the canon-verse post Frozen 2, so there *are* spoilers from the film if you haven't seen it yet! In this fic, Anna and Kristoff decide to take a little break from Christmas party planning and visit the trolls.

Kristoff gingerly helped Anna down from the sled as they arrived at the Valley of the Living Rock. It was early afternoon on Christmas Eve, and though they still had numerous preparations to make for the next day, Anna had cleared time in her schedule to visit Kristoff’s family. Very soon they would be her family as well, and she adored them. And what was Christmas for if not family? Even if said family didn’t exactly celebrate the same way they did at the castle. 

“It’s Kristoff and Anna!”

Small troll children rolled their way up to surround them the moment they came into view. Moss covered fingers tugged at their clothes and hands, desperate for attention as they always were. Anna couldn’t help but grin as she took in the excitement around her. It felt so different here than in Arendelle. Here she was just Anna and didn’t have to be the Queen or anything else. Here she was Kristoff’s girl, she was family. It was so warm and intimate and right.

“Did you come for the Flemmy stew?” One of Kristoff’s adopted brother’s called out, waving a few mushrooms in his fist.

Anna’s stomach dropped a bit at the mention of the stew Kristoff had tried so valiantly to get her and Elsa to eat with him for the last few years. It might have been “a real crowd pleaser” for trolls and those raised by trolls, but it had smelled like wet reindeer fur to her. She ran through a series of reasons in her head of how she might be able to turn it down without hurting anyone’s feelings, but thankfully Kristoff smiled and turned him down.

“We ate a big meal before coming up here,” he said politely, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his chest. “Isn’t that right, my love?”

“Big breakfast,” she agreed, echoing the excuse she and Elsa had used on him before. It made him grin, and she instantly knew he had been very aware of her distaste of the stew and had enjoyed teasing her with it. She tried to glare at him, but the mirth in his eyes was too much and she ended up laughing instead. It was hard to stay angry with him for anything, especially when he did everything in his power to make her happy.

“We just wanted to come and see you all before we get too busy with the holiday celebrations in Arendelle,” Kristoff explained, squeezing her shoulder. “Anna is throwing a party for all the servants in the castle tomorrow with all kinds of events lined up until the New Year.”

“Are you sure you didn’t come with news for us?” Bulda asked, rolling up to them and tackling Kristoff in a bear hug that knocked him over.

“What kind of news were you hoping for?” 

Anna grinned at the affection between Kristoff and his adopted mother. Bulda was always thrilled to see them, no matter how long it had been between visits. He was clearly raised with so much love. It was why he was capable of such deep love now. There was quite a bit she had to be thankful to the trolls for. If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t be as happy as she was. 

“News of a grandchild, perhaps?” Bulda raised her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

A strangled laugh came from her chest and Anna had to cover her mouth so the trolls wouldn’t hear it. A grandchild, already? Kristoff’s family had always worked fast, hadn’t they? The first time they met her they tried to marry them off within the hour. Now, they had only been engaged for two months and already Bulda was asking about babies. 

“Ah,” Anna cleared her throat and struggled to keep the smile off her face, “maybe we should wait on that sort of announcement until after the wedding. Everything in the right order and all that?”

Kristoff was blushing to the tips of his ears, clearly shocked into silence for once. It was adorable, especially because he never seemed shy when he slipped into her bedchamber at night. Anna supposed that he just wasn’t quite ready to discuss that part of his life in front of Bulda. Too bad for him that Bulda and the rest of the trolls didn’t share that embarrassment.

“What are you waiting for? We can have the wedding right here and then you can get to work on making me a grandchild. You are both young and healthy! I’m sure it won’t take Kristoff long…”

“Haaaa…” Kristoff put his hand over her mouth, the blush deepening on his cheeks. “Anna’s Queen, remember? We have to take time to properly plan for a wedding with all sorts of delegates and nobles invited. And as for the rest…”

Have the wedding here? Seriously? She knew the trolls were impulsive and this probably made sense to them, but wasn’t a wedding something that needed to be planned out for months? Didn’t they have a ton of rules and customs they had to follow because she was royalty? But wait… Kristoff’s family had customs too! He had been raised by the trolls, seeing and doing things in ways that were foreign to her. If she had been planning to marry someone for political reasons, they would celebrate in the ways of both countries. Why should that be any different just because the customs weren’t human?

And besides… did she really want to put off becoming his wife?

“Well, why don’t we just have a wedding here?” Anna asked, finally stepping in to save her poor fiance who looked like he might die on the spot if he had to talk about this subject with his family any longer.

“What? Have a troll wedding?” Kristoff’s eyebrows shot up so high that they disappeared behind the fringe of his bangs. “But you’re…”

“Queen,” Anna agreed with a small nod and proceeded to explain what she had already gone through in her own head. “Yes, there are formalities to follow, but I don’t see why we can’t just have a small ceremony for us first. Besides, it’s important to follow your family customs too, right? If any of my advisors argue about it later, I’ll just remind them that we would do the same if I was marrying some noble from another country.”

“Wonderful!” Bulda beamed and rolled over to the other trolls. “We’re having a wedding, everyone!”

A cheer went up from the gathering and suddenly the valley was filled with the sounds of laughter, chatter, and song as they pulled together the wedding garb just as they had done during her first visit. 

Kristoff stepped up to her side again, a look of concern in his big, dark eyes. “Are you sure about this? We hadn’t planned on doing anything like this today. It was just supposed to be a short visit before we went back to the castle and finished preparations for the Christmas festivities.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to wait any longer to be your wife,” Anna admitted. She moved her hands to his cheeks to stroke the flushed skin. “And besides, a small ceremony with your family the day before Christmas? What could be more perfect than this?”

Chocolate brown eyes softened as they looked into hers and he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. “If we can start working on that grandchild for Bulda.”

“We should definitely make that our goal for her Christmas gift next year,” Anna agreed and pulled him down for a much more thorough kiss. “If we work hard enough, we can make it happen.”

“I guess I know what my Christmas gift this year is,” Kristoff chuckled as they regretfully pulled away from the kiss.

“Oh?” Anna thoughts immediately turned to the gaily wrapped presents underneath the tree in the family room. “What’s that?”

His lips brushed her ear and his voice echoed sweetly in her ear. “You.”


	2. Christmas Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna volunteers to make Christmas Eve dinner for Kristoff's whole family. Things don't go quite as planned.

“So, let me get this straight… you offered to host my family’s annual Christmas dinner.”

“Yep.”

“Our first year married?”

“That’s right.”

“While we still haven’t completely moved into our new house?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And you didn’t think to discuss this with me first?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

Kristoff sighed and dropped his face into his hands. He had walked into the kitchen a few minutes before and found Anna digging through the cupboards looking for pots, pans, measuring cups and casserole dishes. It wouldn’t have worried him much, it was Christmas Eve and she was _famous_ for her cookies, but then she asked if they had a turkey baster. While she was a fantastic baker, she wasn’t very skilled with cooking. Apparently that hadn’t stopped her from wanting to impress his family… which led them to the situation they were facing now.

“Anna, when did you even _buy_ a turkey?” 

“I ran out early this morning. I had to check three different groceries stores before I found a 25lb one! Your mother says it has to be at _least_ that big to feed your family,” Anna admitted while rummaging through the refrigerator. “Do we have any bacon?”

“What do you need bacon for?” Kristoff moved to her side and gently closed the door so he could take her hands in his. “Anna, seriously, were you not going to ask for my help at all?”

Anna gently removed her hands from his and gave him a slightly annoyed smile. “I need bacon for the green bean casserole, and no. I wanted to do this on my own.”

Knowing how stubborn she would get if he suggested it was too much for one person to take on by themselves, Kristoff sighed again and opened the freezer. “Here, we have a couple pounds of bacon, green beans are in the pantry along with a bag of potatoes and some cranberry sauce. If you need help with anything, let me know.”

Lips pressed against his cheek in gratitude before she sent him out of the kitchen. “I’ll be fine! Just put on some Christmas music, or something. Okay?”

He left the kitchen and tried not to rush back inside and beg her to let him help. If she wanted to do it on her own, no amount of begging would change her mind… he just wondered what his mother had been thinking agreeing to this situation.

***

“Anna, don’t feel bad. You didn’t completely ruin Christmas dinner… there’s still… is this red stuff jello?”

She groaned and buried her face in her arms, the smell of smoke still hanging in the air. In trying to accomplish everything at once, the green beans had dehydrated in the oven, the potatoes had burned on the stove top, and the turkey… well, it _might_ be cooked by about ten or eleven that evening. One thing was for sure, the kitchen was a disaster and there was no way they were going to be able to feed his entire family.

“It’s not,” Anna mumbled, still hiding her face.

“What’s not what?” Kristoff asked, rubbing her back in a gesture of comfort.

“It’s not jello. It’s the cranberry sauce.”

“Ah.” He looked at the mess of red goo on the plate and then pushed it away. “Well, there’s always an upside to these kinds of situations, right?”

Anna looked up at him, her eyes red rimmed, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the smoke or if she’d been crying. “What about this has an upside?”

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Then he closed it, and opened it again. “Um…”

“If it’s taking you this long to come up with one, I guess there isn’t actually anything… is there?”

Kristoff dropped a kiss to the top of her head and let out a soft chuckle. “How about, ‘I still love you, even if you can’t cook’? And also, I didn’t marry you because of your culinary skills.”

Anna tried to glare at him, but found herself laughing instead. “I guess I bit off more than I can chew, huh?”

“But at least you learned your lesson for next year! And hey!” A lightbulb clicked in his head and he went to the fridge to show her. “You made all the pies yesterday, so at least we have desert!”

“I guess there _is_ a bright side,” she chuckled. “Can you call in an order for a couple of pizzas? I’ll get to work on cleaning up the kitchen before Bulda, Pabbie and the others get here.”

Before grabbing his phone, Kristoff came up behind her and pulled her into his arms. “I think you are amazing for trying something new,” he admitted, nibbling on her earlobe. “It must have been scary, but you tried it anyway.”

“You think so?” She asked, relaxing into him. “I should have asked you for help… but I really wanted to prove that I could be the perfect new wife for the holidays.”

“You already are,” he assured her, kissing her neck now. “But honestly, it’s more fun doing everything together as a family. It’s always how we did it when I was growing up.”

She turned in his arms, a hesitant smile on her lips. “Really? You aren’t just saying that so I don’t compare myself to your amazing mother?”

He kissed her forehead, clearly unable to stop himself from touching her now that she was acting so cute about the whole thing. “It’s true. I was always in charge of peeling the potatoes and ripping up the bread to make stuffing.”

“Maybe I’ll ask Bulda if I can help next year.” The smile was real this time, and so brilliant that his heart pounded against his rib cage. 

“I’m sure she would like that.”


	3. Tipsy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duties of a Prince Consort can include many things, like taking care of a slightly tipsy Queen. (Canon-verse set post Frozen 2)

Kristoff tugged on his collar as he surveyed the room. He may not have been exactly comfortable, but it really was quite the party. Not that he was surprised. It was their first Christmas as Queen and Prince Consort, and the nobles from all the neighboring countries had come to celebrate the holiday with the new royal family of Arendelle. He hadn’t been quite sure about it, but Anna had convinced him that she wanted to start new traditions now that she was in charge. It was time to fling their gates wide and welcome everyone in. The first order of business was to bring all of their trade partners and allies together for the holiday, to show them just how different things would be if they formed stronger bonds. 

And boy, was it working! 

Never before had he seen so many people from so many different countries mingling and laughing together. They swapped stories about their own Christmas traditions, talked of the food and celebrations in their own countries. There were people singing carols along with the string quartet, while in another corner a group ate krumkake or danced. It was festive, magical… everything Anna had wanted to bring to her kingdom.

Unfortunately, she was getting a little _too_ festive for her own good.

By his own count, Anna had downed four glasses of hot Glogg, and was getting quite merry. Her cheeks were as red as the holly that decorated the ballroom, her eyes bright and glassy. Usually she wouldn’t have had more than a single glass, but when offered a glass by one of the many diplomats that came to speak with her… she couldn’t say no. Thankfully for her, _he_ could. And when he saw her accepting her fifth glass, he did just that.

“Anna, sweetheart, I think it may be time to wind down the party,” he said gently, and removed the glass from her hand so she wouldn’t consume anymore. 

Glassy eyes smiled at him and she swayed slightly as he pulled the mulled wine away from her. “Kristoff, there you are. I was just talking to these men about my fine husband, and here you are!”

Her words were slurred just a touch, but that wasn’t the most concerning thing. She leaned toward him and began playing with his lapels, tugging on them and wetting her lips. Clearly she wanted a kiss, and while he would never normally turn down an invitation like that, they were in front of all the people she did business with. Letting his sweet, drunk wife start making moves on him in this company wasn’t exactly the kind of impression they were hoping to make.

Kristoff turned a polite smile on the two dignitaries that Anna had been talking with, and saw that they were both struggling to hide their own amusement at the situation. “I’m sorry gentlemen, but I really do think it’s time for me to take the Queen and put her to bed. If you have anything you’d like to discuss, it will have to wait until tomorrow. I think Her Majesty is a bit indisposed.”

“I’m fine,” she murmured, patting him on the chest and smiling warmly at her guests. “He worries too much.”

“No, I think I worry just enough. You’ve had quite a bit to drink, Anna.”

She laughed and shook her head. “That can’t be right. I’ve only had one glass.”

“This would have been your fifth,” Kristoff said and held up the glass in front of her. 

He could tell she was trying to remember and prove him wrong, but with the way she was swaying on her feet… nothing she said was going to prove her point.

“All right, it’s time for bed. I’ll have Kai start clearing out the room and setting up your one on one meetings with all the guests for the next few days.” Before she could protest, he scooped her into his arms and nodded at the men who were still watching the two of them with barely concealed amusement in their eyes. 

“Kristoff, wait!” Anna tried to push herself out of his arms, but the alcohol had begun to work its way through her and her protestations were weak.

“Next year I’ll try to keep a better eye on you. I know you’ll be asleep by the time we reach our room, and that’s just disappointing after a party,” he said cheerfully. “If I have to dress up like this, I really would like to be rewarded for it.”

But his complaints fell on deaf ears, because his wife had already fallen asleep in his arms. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. It really had been for the best that he stepped in when he did, after all. If she had passed out drunk in front of all of their guests, she never would have lived it down. He would have to tease her about it when Elsa came for their family Christmas celebration in a few days. Surely Elsa would have her own embarrassing stories to tell about her early days as Queen, and the two sisters would laugh about it all day. And there was nothing he loved more than hearing Anna laugh.

Well… there was _one_ thing. But he supposed that could wait until she had slept off the Glogg.


	4. Hot Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna has had a no good, terrible, very bad day and all she wants is some hot chocolate. Too bad someone else had the same idea.

The moment she entered the grocery store, Anna let out a sneeze that echoed through the mostly empty building, alerting anyone and everyone to her presence. With as snuffly and stuffed up as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to be embarrassed, she just wiped her nose with one of the many tissues she had brought along with her, and shuffled off to aisle 5 where her objective would be. Her shoes squeaked against the linoleum floor, soaking wet from the snow and muck she had just walked three blocks through to get here. That and the sneeze were like a blinking neon sign pointing her out and saying “Look at me!”. Not that she wanted the attention. Honestly, she just wanted to be home with a cup of hot chocolate and her favorite Christmas movie. Was that too much to ask for?

Apparently so, because it had been an absolutely terrible day beginning to end. She had awoken with a terrible runny nose and chills, been sent home from her part time job because she kept sneezing while on the phone with clients (and she really needed that money for rent), found her box of hot chocolate empty and then her car wouldn’t start. So, she had had to walk to the store in fifteen degree snowy weather in her ratty old winter coat because she hadn’t been able to afford a new one yet this year. 

Great… and now she was whining to herself. That would improve her mood for sure.

Deciding to just grab the box of hot chocolate and be on her way, she tried to hurry her pace so she could get home and snuggle up. Thankfully, when she reached the shelf she was looking for, there was still one box of her favorite brand left. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she reached out for the box… and then pulled back her hand in surprise as a much larger hand snatched it up right in front of her.

“Hey!” She moaned, her voice nasally and tearfilled as her happiness slipped away in a moment.

“Sorry, my mother sent me out for this. I’ll be in the dog house if I don’t bring it back,” the man who had taken the hot chocolate explained. He actually looked sorry, with those big brown puppy dog eyes and apologetic smile. But she was too far gone to accept it with grace… she started sobbing on the spot.

“It’s not fair!” She began hastily brushing away her tears as they poured down her cheeks but to no avail. It was too late, that was the last straw on her absolutely miserable day.

The man stepped forward and held out a hand hesitantly to her, as though he wanted to comfort her but had no idea whether it would be okay to do it. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call someone for you?”

She shook her head, trying to get herself under control but failing. “I’m in college… I don’t even have a roommate!”

“Look, I can call my mom and see if there’s another brand she likes. You can have this box, but you need to calm down. One of the employees is watching us and I think they think I’m threatening you or something,” he murmured under his breath, “so please don’t cry. I don’t want to get arrested over a box of hot chocolate.”

Anna pulled some more tissue out of her pocket and attempted to clean herself up. She was sure she was a complete disaster, but it had just been such an awful day! Surely anyone would understand that if she explained, right? Plus, she needed to apologize to the guy. It wasn’t his fault everything had gone wrong.

“I’m sorry, I’m not usually like this,” she assured him as she grabbed yet another tissue and blew her nose into it. “I woke up sick, and then everything else just went downhill from there. All I wanted was some of my favorite cocoa and to watch The Polar Express, and when you took the last box…”

“I get it, I really do.” He smiled at her and handed her the box of cocoa. “We all have bad days and can use a friend. I’m Kristoff Bjorgman, by the way.”

“Anna Arendelle,” she sniffled, and finally took her first good look at him… and then dropped the box of hot chocolate.

He was absolutely gorgeous! Medium length wavy blond hair, big brown eyes, strong chin… and look at that broad chest! And of course he had seen her at her very, _very_ lowest point. There was no first impression quite like having a complete breakdown in front of a cute guy while also being sick and covered in melting snow. Damn.

“Be careful!” He bent down to scoop the box into his large hands and then he handed it to her again. “This is the only box, remember? Try not to spill it everywhere.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, cradling the box against her chest. If this had been any other day, she would have asked him for his number or something, but unfortunately it was a bad day, and he had witnessed the way she dealt with it. She would be lucky if he didn’t run right home and tell his mother all about the crazy girl he met at the supermarket. And that really sucked, because he was _cute_ , and under normal circumstances she would have loved to get to know him better.

Regretfully, she turned away from him and made her way to the register so she could pay for her cocoa and get the heck out of there. While she was waiting for the cashier to finish his conversation with a co-worker, she watched out of the side of her vision as Kristoff got into line behind her, chatting on the phone with what could only be his mother. 

“Uh-huh, sorry about that Ma. They were all out of your favorite brand, but I managed to find another brand that looks pretty much the same.”

Was he lying to his mother for her sake, since she was within hearing range? Or did he just not want to go into the whole situation on the phone? Part of her wanted to just give him the stupid box of hot chocolate and run back home, but the other more childish part of her clutched the box tighter against her chest. She desperately needed some comfort today, and being so sick and on her own, she was going to cling to the one thing she had.

Eventually the cashier finished their conversation and rang Anna up, but not without eyeing Kristoff behind her and asking her several times if her visit to their store had been all right. She tried not to cringe at the obvious attempt at being subtle and the terrible reminder of her breakdown, but admitted that everything was fine. After getting her change and her bag, Anna gave Kristoff a nod to let him know again that she was thankful and then she bolted from the store and out into the snow. It wouldn’t be a pleasant walk home, but at least she knew there would be hot chocolate at the end of it, and that was what mattered.

She hadn’t made her way halfway across the parking lot when a voice called out behind her. “Anna! Hey, wait a second. Anna!”

Turning in surprise, she saw Kristoff rushing after her, his eyes drawn tight with worry. She stopped in place and waited for him to catch up, though she was unsure why he was calling out for her. Her wallet hadn’t fallen out of her coat or anything, had it? After checking in a panic, she felt both it and her cellphone where they should be. So… why was he chasing after her?

“Did you need something?”

“Are you _walking_ home?” He asked, slightly breathless from chasing her down.

“Yeah… my car wouldn’t start,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Let me drive you home, please? My mother would have my head if she knew I let a sick girl walk home alone in the snow at this time of night.”

He seemed so sincere that she couldn’t turn him down… didn’t _want_ to turn him down. Sure, he could be dangerous, but somehow she didn’t think so. A dangerous person wouldn’t have been so honest to goodness worried about her, right? They wouldn’t have given her the last box of hot chocolate or been so nice. At least that was what she told herself, because she _really_ didn’t want to walk back home in this weather.

“Okay. Thank you. I would appreciate that.” And she did, even more than him giving up the hot chocolate. Well… okay, maybe not _quite_ as much as him giving up the hot chocolate.

He led her to a large pickup where a big, brown dog was waiting impatiently in the cab. When they opened the doors, the dog went immediately for Kristoff, who grinned and rubbed his ears. “Hey Sven, can you be nice to our guest? Her name is Anna and we’re giving her a ride home.”

The dog turned to her and instantly began licking her face as if she was an old friend. That did what everything else in this terrible day couldn’t… it made her smile. “Hi Sven,” she said and gave him a scratch under his chin.

“He’s a little too friendly for his own good, but he means well. Just tap his nose if he gets a little too close for your comfort, okay?” Kristoff turned the ignition and suddenly the cab was flooded with warmth as the heater kicked on. Anna couldn’t help but put her icy fingers up against the vents and sigh with happiness that she wasn’t going to have to be out in the cold for the next few minutes.

“Thank you for everything,” she said earnestly, throwing him a grateful smile. “I really am sorry for freaking you out back there in the store. You’re my hero tonight.”

He coughed then, loudly, as if to cover his embarrassment. “So, what’s your address?”

She gave him directions and then returned her attention to the heater. It wouldn’t do her any good to stare at him or take in the gentle way he treated his dog as he drove. He was just being nice to her because she was sick, right? It wasn’t as though she was going to see him ever again. Better not to get attached… even if he was extremely good looking.

It didn’t take long to reach her apartment, as it was only a few blocks away. When he pulled up, she found herself hesitating in getting out. There was a part of her that wanted to ask for his information, if only so she could try and make a better impression in the future. The words wouldn’t come out, though. Deep down she knew she had made too big a fool of herself and she couldn’t manage to ask if she could see him again. In the end, she plastered a smile on her face and tried not to cough all over him or his dog.

“Thanks again, for the cocoa and the ride home. I really appreciated it.” She reached for the door handle and was about to pull it open and step outside when she felt Kristoff’s hand on her shoulder. So quickly that it made her dizzy, she eagerly turned to look at him one more time. “Yes?”

“Um…” he opened and shut his mouth, his eyes darted around her face as he tried to form words. “I know you had a rough day, but I’m sure things will get better. But… if they don’t…”

When he hesitated, Anna urged him on gently. “If they don’t?”

“You said you were in college and you were alone, so… let me give you my number. If you need anything, like another ride or whatever, or even if you just need someone to talk to, you can call me. I have a big family and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind adopting you while you’re in town.”

It was so awkward, so adorable, so sweet… Anna immediately reached for her phone. “I’ll definitely give you a call,” she promised.

“Great! I’ll be waiting!”

They smiled awkwardly at each other and then laughed. It may have started out as the worst day ever, but she was kind of glad everything had happened in just that way. Meeting Kristoff may have been worth all the frustrations. He was a not-quite-Christmas-yet miracle.


	5. Movie Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a disastrous first meeting, Anna wants to make a better impression on Kristoff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've somehow made it to Day 5 without missing any days! Unfortunately, I've come down with something and that may not continue to be the case. I'm going to try and keep up with the advent, but because of my illness and a really busy schedule this weekend, I may miss a day or two. I hope you'll understand!
> 
> Also, today's fic is a sequel to yesterday's "Hot Chocolate" story. It may even have a third part at some point that's a bit more on the mature side, but we'll see how things go. For now, happy reading!

When the doorbell rang, Anna nearly jumped out of her skin. He was ten minutes early, and she wasn’t nearly as ready or as _cute_ as she wanted to be. After their first disastrous meeting, she wanted to wow him, to make him glad he had given her his number and not just written her off as a crazy person. Fate and Kristoff had given her a second chance to make a good impression, but the fact that he was early was putting a bit of a crimp in her plans. She hadn’t even finished her make-up yet!

“Coming!” She called out, trying to decide if she wanted to chance it and apply lip gloss. On the one hand, it always made her feel a bit more put together, but on the other it would leave a sticky residue on her mug and what if things went well and he wanted a good night kiss? While she couldn’t bet on it, she decided not to risk the lip gloss after all. He would just have to deal with her natural look tonight, which in all honesty was still _miles_ better than the way she had looked when they met last week. As ready as she could be, Anna fixed a welcoming smile on her face and opened the door.

Kristoff was standing in her doorway, looking just as dreamy as the first time she had seen him, but this time carrying a bouquet of red roses and wearing a nervous smile. It made her heart flutter, her knees quiver and her insides grow all warm and liquidy. If she wasn’t careful, this man could steal away her heart just as easily as he had snatched up that box of hot chocolate from her reach.

“Um… Anna, hi, hello…” he greeted her and held out the bouquet. “I wasn’t sure what kind of flowers you might like, so I went with roses. I-I hope that’s alright.”

She took the flowers in hand and beamed at him. “They’re beautiful. Please come in!”

As she took his coat and hung it up, she struggled not to oggle the way he filled out his red cable knit sweater. Kristoff cleared his throat and attempted to make small talk. “You hair um… it looks really soft… I mean nice! I mean… not that it looked _bad_ last time, but today it’s all down and fluffy around your shoulders and um… yeah… _nice_.”

“Kristoff, you don’t need to be nervous,” she reminded him as she led him into the apartment. “I’m the one who made the bad first impression, remember? Besides, it’s just hot chocolate, popcorn and some Christmas movies.”

If anyone needed to be nervous, it was her. With one breakdown under her belt, she couldn’t afford to screw this up again. Especially when he had been nice enough to agree to come over tonight and give her a second chance. She had to somehow wow him, knock his socks off, make him relieved he hadn’t just let her walk home and straight out of his life. Her homemade caramel popcorn recipe was sure to be a step in the right direction. The way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, right?

“Is there anything I can help with?” He followed her into the kitchen when she moved to start preparing the snacks. “I feel kind of awkward letting you do everything.”

She laughed. “There’s not really much left to do. I’m just pouring the drinks into the mugs and getting the bowl of popcorn out of the microwave. If you really want to help me out, you can take this!”

As Kristoff took the bowl of popcorn, she couldn’t help but notice the strange look he had while he watched her flit around the kitchen grabbing mugs and putting everything together. It didn’t feel like she was doing anything particularly strange, but he seemed confused anyway. 

“Is there something on my face?”

He shook his head and then smiled a bit ruefully. “Sorry, you just seem like such a different person than the first time we met. Part of me was wondering if you had a twin sister or something.”

Grimacing, she poured the hot chocolate from the saucepan on the stove into the two Christmas mugs she had pulled down from a shelf. “I did try to tell you that I was having a bad day, didn’t I? I’m not usually such a mess. Not that I’m completely put together _all_ the time, but I’m kind of a baby when I’m sick.”

“You were cute before, but now I kinda feel like you’re out of my league,” he joked. 

The saucepan almost slipped out of her fingers as his words hit her. Out of his league? Was he even a little serious about that? Did he not own a _mirror_? He was easily the cutest guy she had ever asked out, and considerate, compassionate, and sweet to boot! Having him in her apartment felt like she had won the lottery. If he felt even a fraction of that for her, she needed to make sure she didn’t screw it up. She had a history of bad choices in the guys she attempted to date, and she had a feeling Kristoff was different. If she wanted a second date, she needed to make sure everything went perfectly.

“So, do you want marshmallows in your hot chocolate? Or do you like any kind of special flavors? I have creamers.” Anna tried not to let him know his comment had gotten to her, and instead turned things back to the plans for their date. “I have hazelnut, chocolate toffee truffle, salted caramel, and cookies and cream. Any of those sound good?”

“Whoa…” Kristoff set down the bowl of popcorn and came to stand behind her to look at her ‘treat’ cupboard. “Are all of these creamers for hot chocolate? And what’s up with the boxes of candy bars? Do you buy them wholesale?”

“I _may_ have a sweet tooth,” Anna admitted as she pulled down the hazelnut creamer for herself, “but it’s more fiscally responsible to buy a whole box at Costco and eat them slowly. It costs a lot less than buying them when I have a craving.”

He grinned and plopped his hand down on the top of her head. “I feel like I’m learning a lot about you already.”

She rolled her eyes (secretly pleased that he was interested at all) and grabbed the mugs to bring to the sofa. It wasn’t a proper Polar Express experience without hot chocolate, though she had never watched it with anyone but her sister. It certainly hadn’t been a plan to ever share it with a first date, but when Kristoff had brought it up on their phone call the night before and said he had never seen it… it was suddenly the perfect Christmas-y first date. Sentimental enough that snuggling could be in order, but not so much that she would have to blow her nose in front of him again. That was something she _never_ wanted to repeat.

They took a minute to settle into the sofa, and then she turned an eager smile on him. “So, are you ready?”

“You really do love this movie, don’t you?”

“It’s partly nostalgia, partly getting lost in the magic of Christmas,” she explained as well as she was able. There was something about the wonder of Santa and the goodness it brought out in children that she was incredibly soft for. Plus, the score always brought tears to her eyes. It was a special movie to her, even if the animation wasn’t holding up very well after so many years.

“I’m excited, even if it’s only because it’s another thing I’ll learn about you.” He turned another smile on her, but this one wasn’t quite as teasing as the one in the kitchen had been. This time his whole face was soft, and his eyes crinkled a little at the corners… and _damn_ was she in trouble. Every little thing about him just made her like him more.

Instead of altering him to that fact, she reached for the remote and turned the movie on. Maybe if she forced herself to focus on the magic of the season, she wouldn’t keep thinking about Kristoff’s big, warm hands. Or his smile. Or those brown puppy dog eyes that made her want to agree to whatever he said. Or the fact that he was sitting so close to her and all she wanted to do was say “To hell with it!” and drag him close for a wild kiss.

Yeah, inviting him to her house had been a dangerous idea.

“ _On Christmas Eve many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound I was afraid I would never hear… the ringing bells of Santa’s sleigh..._ ”

As the classic first lines of the film echoed through the room, Anna found herself relaxing a little. It was familiar, it was soft and sweet and beautiful. By the time the train had pulled up and the conductor was giving his speech to the protagonist, she had curled up on her side of the couch, her arms wrapped around a pillow, content to sip on her hot chocolate. All while watching for Kristoff’s reactions out of the corner of her eye.

He seemed to be enjoying it well enough. He cracked a smile at the appropriate moments, looked sad when the boy from the wrong side of the tracks showed up, annoyed at the know-it-all kid… but she couldn’t seem to focus on the movie rather than his face. Even if they were all normal expressions, she liked watching him make them. The way his lips moved when he smiled was especially fascinating. She wondered how they would move if they were pressed against hers…

“Oh!”

With a pop, the electricity in her apartment went out all at once. She jumped to her feet in surprise, knocking over the table, the bowl of sticky caramel popcorn, and the mugs, causing a shattering crash of porcelain against her wood floors. “Crap… I need to clean this up,” she muttered, wondering if she could make it to the kitchen in the pitch black to get towels to clean up the cocoa before it stained the flooring.

“Anna, you broke the mugs. You can’t move or you might cut your feet,” Kristoff pointed out, grasping in the dark for her hand, which he finally managed to catch in his own. “Come sit on the sofa and wait for the lights to come back.”

Guided by his gentle hand, she sat back at his side, closer than she had been when they were watching the movie. She tried to pull away and go back to her original place, but his grip kept her firmly against his side. “I just want to…”

“Don’t move. We can’t see anything, so stay by my side, all right?”

Would it be okay to take advantage of the situation? She wasn’t sure, but she leaned into him just a little, to test the waters. It both surprised and please her when he moved to wrap his arm around her shoulders and held her closer. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who had been thinking about soft lips and warm hands during the movie? 

Wait, _warm_ hands? Why were hers suddenly feeling so _cold_?

She stiffened up and listened for the tell-tale creaking of her heater, but her apartment was eerily quiet except for the sound of her and Kristoff breathing. Damn it… “I have electric heating,” she moaned. If the power didn’t come back soon she was going to freeze her butt off. Did she have enough blankets to pile on her bed to keep even semi-warm through the night?

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but if that’s the case we need to get closer and share body heat,” he said, and she could hear him swallow hard next to her ear.

“Y-yeah… right. We can’t get up to go find blankets because of the broken mugs, so s-sharing body heat m-makes sense.” Dammit! This was her big chance, but she was so nervous and so attracted to him that she couldn’t be calm about the whole thing. To a girl who had never been kissed, this whole situation was a bit more overwhelming than she would have expected. How did other people manage to get a good mood going without completely embarrassing themselves?

“I won’t do anything weird. We barely know each other.” He laughed awkwardly, and she joined him, though she did scoot just a bit closer to his side.

After a few moments hesitation, she croaked out a response in a dry and shaky voice. “But you _want_ to get to know me better… don’t you?” She heard a sharp intake of breath, and could feel his pulse quickening under her shoulder. The darkness heightened her other senses, letting her know without a doubt that she wasn’t the only one who was feeling attraction. She was almost grateful for the power going out.

“Anna?” His voice was warm against her ear and it made her shiver.

“Yes?”

“Can… can I kiss you?” The words tumbled out of his mouth, bumping into each other as they fell. It took a long moment of her trying to decide if she had heard them right before she could respond.

“You want to kiss me?” Not the most eloquent response, but she was surprised that he would ask first. Did most people ask before they did it?

“It’s all I’ve been able to think about since you opened the door,” he admitted in a rush, pulling her closer to his chest. “You looked so different with your hair down and I realized you were pretty when you were crying too and I honestly think I just can’t win against you. You’ve been stuck in my head since the night we met.”

Kristoff’s admission fell between them, and in the silent moment after… it settled right into her heart. 

“From the moment you showed up tonight it’s all I’ve wanted,” she whispered, feeling her blood boil in her skin as she opened her heart to him.

Before either of them could say another word, he dragged her onto his lap, slid his hands up her neck to cup her cheeks, and brought their lips together in a soft kiss. It was such a tender moment that it brought tears to her eyes, even as he continued to move his mouth against hers. She could feel his heart pounding even through the thick fabric of the cable knit sweater. It echoed the furious racing of her own. They both wanted this, wanted each other. It was a perfect moment that she wished she could remain in forever.

All too soon his lips moved away, but when he rested his forehead against hers, it made her heart race in a completely different sort of way. Not just a wanting anymore, but a soft warmth enveloping her heart at the knowledge that even after a kiss he still wanted to keep touching her in some way. How perfect could he get?

“I want to see you again,” he said, a bit breathless from their kiss. One hand moved up from her face to stroke the hair at her temple and she moved her face into it as she listened to him talk. “I know you are probably heading home for Christmas pretty soon, but I want to see you again before you leave. Can I?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she told him, letting her own hands begin to roam over his broad chest. “My sister is coming to visit me instead, since I have to keep working at my part time job. You can come over anytime you want, as long as it’s after six.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow sounds good.”

He pulled her in for another kiss, but this time it was hungrier and she moaned when he slid his tongue between her lips. Her hands slid up his chest and locked around his neck, tugging on his hair to deepen the kiss further. When he moaned, her heart jumped against her ribs. One thing was obvious, she couldn’t get enough of him, and she wasn’t sure that was an entirely bad thing.

“I probably should stay until the electricity comes back on,” he gasped against her lips. “I don’t want to leave you here alone with no heat.”

“What if it doesn’t come back on tonight? I heard it’s supposed to snow at least six inches,” she panted.

Kristoff paused as if to think about it, and then he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “It’s our first date and I don’t think I should stay the night.”

“Oh…”

She didn’t have time to feel disappointed, because Kristoff kissed her again and then let out a soft laugh. “If it doesn’t come back on soon, I’ll drive you back to my place. Ma can set you up in the guest bedroom and you’ll stay warm. Not to mention, we’ll be surrounded by people, so we won’t be able to rush things either… which I think might be important. You go to my head and make it hard to think.”

Her lips twitched in a wry smile. “Thanks for being my hero again.”

His forehead bumped hers again. “Don’t mention it.”

“But… we could always give the power a little longer. I mean, it might come back on any minute,” she suggested coyly, stroking the line of his collar bone with her fingernails and enjoying the little gasps he made when she touched him.

“Hmm…” he slid his nose and lips along her jaw, teasing her back. “We could always wait a few more minutes.”

Anna grinned and yanked his mouth back to hers again. It wouldn’t be a good idea to go too far tonight, but the power was out, he was warm... and she wanted just a little bit more of his undivided attention. Taking things further than this could wait for another day.

The second date, for instance.


	6. All I Want For Christmas is You (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kristoff turns to his best friend, Anna, when his mother begins suggesting that she find him a girlfriend. Anna agrees to be his fake girlfriend... with one very important stipulation.

“Wait, I’m not sure I heard that right… can you repeat that?”

Kristoff looked across the small cafe table at the only female friend he had ever managed to make. Her blue eyes were wide with surprise, her lips parted as though she had a million things she wanted to say but couldn’t voice any of them. Not that he could blame her. There was no way she could have been prepared for what he had suggested. Hell… even _he_ couldn’t believe he had said it.

“Look,” he said, handing over her favorite cream cheese danish as a means to bribe her, “if I don’t bring a girl home for Christmas this year, my mother is going to start trying to set me up with her friend’s daughters. I’m begging you not to make me go through that.”

Anna snatched the danish from his hand, but didn’t immediately dig into it the way she usually did. Instead she just stared at him as though he were asking her for something a lot bigger than pretending to be his girlfriend for a day. If there was _actually_ anything bigger than that… which he wasn’t really sure about. Relationships baffled him. It was why he had to resort to asking his neighbor and friend to help him out. He really just didn’t understand girls. Clearly.

“This isn’t just a one time request,” she pointed out. “The next time your family gets together they are going to want the same thing, right? How long were you planning to ask me to continue this?”

While she had a point, he didn’t want to back down. Bringing Anna with him would buy him some time, and he really dreaded the thought of being forced to take out girls he didn’t know. Besides… Anna had met his mother on a few occasions before, so it might be somewhat believable that they were dating. At least that was what he hoped. 

“For right now, just do me this favor for Christmas… maybe New Years,” he begged, reaching across the table to take her hands in his. A flush colored her freckled cheeks, but she didn’t pull away from his grip, so he pressed on. “I know this is awkward and I know it’s probably not the smartest move, but I’m begging you. Just help me, please. I need my best friend at my side this year.”

Her gaze softened and she squeezed his hands. “I’m your best friend?”

“I mean, I could count Sven, but he’s a dog and he can’t exactly go to the movies with me, right?”

Anna rolled her eyes, but he could see that she was still touched that he had called her his best friend. It had been the right move after all… finally! Maybe with Anna helping him along, he could start to understand women and eventually have an actual relationship. Not that it was a goal he particularly wanted to achieve, he was pretty content with his life right now. But in the future? It might be nice to have a wife and kids someday. He just had to get through this Christmas first.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” she agreed, but before he could let out a sigh of relief, she continued. “I’ll do it… on one condition.”

“Okay, name it.” He was so relieved he would agree to just about anything if she would do this for him.

“I don’t want to kiss you.”

_Ouch_. Okay, he had to admit that was a bit of a slap to his ego, but he wasn’t going to push it. He was asking for her a favor. It might be difficult if this deal ran to New Year’s Eve, but he would figure out a way to avoid a kiss at all costs. If that was the price, he would pay it. But seriously… did he have bad breath or something? Why was kissing him the line she wouldn’t cross?

“Do you have a guy you like or something?” He asked, unable to let that insult go.

Her eyes narrowed a bit, but she shrugged. “Not really. I just figure it’ll be weird later on if we kiss. I like our relationship the way it is now.”

She was finally munching on the pastry he had bought her, all while looking anywhere but at him. A sigh escaped him, but he refused to call the whole thing off. Anna would help him escape his mother’s desperate attempts to pair him up, and wasn’t that what mattered? If so, why was he so annoyed at the stipulation she had put on the situation. Did this mean he wanted to kiss _her_? 

Nah. She was his best friend. He was probably just annoyed because she said it so bluntly… right? Yeah, that was probably it. 

Probably.


	7. All I Want For Christmas is You (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get complicated when Bulda suggests she knows what the two are hiding from everyone.

“Anna, you really don’t have to help me peel the potatoes. You’re a guest.”

“It’s all right! Having two people do it will make it go faster, and besides…” She grinned at him as she pulled a small trash can over to sit between her knees, and reached for a sweet potato from the bowl on the table. “Helping you out means I get to be where you are.”

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. “It’s that awkward being with my sisters and their kids, huh?”

The grin became a grimace. “They seem nice, but they keep asking when the wedding is, how many kids we want, if we are planning to move in together soon…”

“Ah… yeah, they tend to be pretty overbearing,” he admitted sheepishly, turning his attention to the potato in his hand so he didn’t have to feel her withering stare. “They mean well though.”

“We are just so excited to have you here,” Bulda said, breaking into the conversation. She was standing at the stove, putting together a casserole while also stirring the homemade cranberry sauce and basically being in charge of the whole event. “It’s the first time Kristoff has brought home a girl to meet us, so of course we want to know everything about you and your relationship!”

An awkward silence filled the kitchen as Anna looked to him, her eyebrows raised in a clear question of what to say. They had only come up with a basic story on the way over, but his mother and two sisters were even more nosy than he had expected. They had listened to the simple explanation: Anna had moved into the apartment next to his the year before and they became friends and then slowly realized they were interested in each other romantically… but they weren’t satisfied with just that. A barrage of questions followed, each more intrusive than the last. It was no wonder she had wanted to escape the living room and come into the relative quiet of the kitchen with him and his mother. At least with them, it was only Bulda trying to pry into their relationship.

“Ma, it’s not that exciting,” Kristoff said, trying to calm the questions while he could. “It’s not like any of your romance novels. We just get along really well and thought we would try dating and see how it worked. Right, Anna?”

“I wasn’t asking you. Go back to peeling potatoes, young man. Let me have a chat with your nice young woman.” Bulda was waving her favorite wooden spoon in his face as she spoke, scolding him even if her tone was bright and cheerful. He immediately shut up, not willing to argue with his mother. It a habit ingrained in him from childhood that he found increasingly difficult to break as he got older.

“There’s not a lot to tell, Mrs. Bjorgman,” Anna said with a laugh, her blue eyes lighting up as she watched his mother scold him. “We haven’t even been dating for that long.”

Bulda clucked as she slid the casserole into the oven and then turned a bright, knowing smile on them. “You can’t fool me, kids. There’s something _big_ you aren’t telling me.”

Kristoff stiffened up, the potato he was working on fell from his grasp and into the trash can he was using for the peels. Could his mother know the truth? Were they not acting lovey-dovey enough and it was obvious to her that they weren’t actually together? Had this all been for nothing? He shot a glance at Anna, and saw that her eyes were wide and she was looking just as nervous as he was.

“S-something big?” His voice cracked with nerves.

Pulling up a seat beside them, Bulda reached for a potato and began helping with the peeling. “You never were good at keeping things from me, baby boy. A mother can tell when something isn’t quite right.”

A thin, reedy laugh escaped him, more like a whine than anything resembling actual humor. Anna shot him a look, but that just made it worse. His plan was collapsing already and they had barely been at his parent’s house for an hour. How could he ever have thought they could pull this off? It was obvious to anyone who looked at them that Anna was just a friend, right? They didn’t look at each other in any special way, or cuddle close the way his siblings did with their significant others. He should just give up now…

“I’m sorry, I really thought it was the right thing to do…” he began, but was cut off by his mother holding up her hand and shaking her head with a light laugh.

“You just didn’t know how to tell us, so you’ve been hiding it,” Bulda said with a tone that only mother’s seemed to have. “But don’t worry, I’ll keep it secret until you feel it’s the right time to let everyone else know.”

“Um…” Kristoff didn’t quite know what to say to that. _Did_ she know the truth or not? If she knew, why was she still smiling like she knew some big juicy secret? Wouldn’t she be upset if she knew that he and Anna weren’t actually together and were lying to them all?

His gaze swung to Anna and she shrugged her shoulders, clearly as baffled as he was. “What secret are you referring to?” Anna asked.

“Oh, you two,” she chuckled tossed a wink at Kristoff. “The fact that you are pregnant, of course!”

Kristoff fell into a coughing fit and Anna’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. _Pregnant?!_ Where had she come up with that? He wanted to argue, to tell his mother that wasn’t the case and why had she thought it at all? Thankfully Anna beat him to it, because he wasn’t sure he could be very articulate at this point.

“Bulda,” Anna choked out, “ _why_ would you think I was pregnant?”

“It’s the way the two of you are acting around each other,” Bulda pointed out, using her peeler to point at each of them in turn. “You’re also keeping quiet about how you started dating, which means it’s something you can’t really discuss in polite company. I put two and two together and realized you must have had a one night fling, gotten pregnant and are now trying to figure out how to make things work. But don’t worry! I won’t tell the rest of the family until the two of you are ready to make it public!”

Sure, while that would explain away the awkwardness of this _particular_ holiday, it would cause way more problems down the road if they didn’t tell her the truth now. Kristoff opened his mouth to tell her she was wrong, but the words refused to come. 

How had one little lie become so complicated?


	8. All I Want For Christmas is You (Part Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations, realizations and new complications.

“Kristoff, I have to check on the turkey! What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until after dinner?”

After the awkward “reveal” earlier in the kitchen, Kristoff had been struggling to figure out a way to tell his mother that Anna wasn’t pregnant while still keeping the secret of her being his fake girlfriend intact. While he hadn’t come up with anything brilliant, he knew he couldn’t let her keep thinking that he was going to be a father sometime soon. She would eventually (probably over Christmas dinner) announce it to the rest of the family and then it would be pandemonium. The only way to head it off was to get her alone and tell her in no uncertain terms that he and Anna were _not_ going to have a baby. It’s why he had taken her to one of the guest rooms for privacy.

“Anna isn’t pregnant,” he said in a rush, needing to get at least _that_ out before she was called away on some emergency.

Bulda smiled and leaned up on her toes so she could cup Kristoff’s cheek in her palm. “You don’t have to pretend to be all chaste, you know. I’m well aware that my children are all adults and know the ways of the world.”

“No! That’s not… wait…” He paused as he realized what she had said. “Anna and I aren’t _intimate_ at all! We haven’t been dating that long!”

“It’s fine, really,” Bulda insisted, clucking her tongue and patting his cheek. “You’re an adult and can do whatever you want in whatever order you want.”

“Mother, would you just listen to me for a minute?!” He hated raising his voice to either of his parents, but sometimes they had the tendency to talk over their children and he had to yell in order to be heard. When she dropped her hand he continued. “The reason we seem awkward isn’t because she’s pregnant and we’re hiding it. We really _haven’t_ been dating long.”

He wasn’t lying either. It had only been three hours since they walked into his parent’s home… so not long at all.

“She’s not pregnant? Really?” The disappointment was evident by the way her shoulders slumped and the smile disappeared. He hated disappointing her, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t let this situation escalate any further. One lie was more than enough.

“Really.” He patted her on the shoulder, trying to comfort her. “The thing is, Anna and her ex had a bad breakup, and she’s still unsure about dating at all. I’d like it if you guys could go easy on her. I’m trying not to rush things… she’s too special for that.”

More truth, which surprised him. She had suffered a bad breakup, and he _did_ feel like Anna was special. Never before had he been able to get close to another girl the way he did with her. She broke through his awkwardness and uncertainty and made him enjoy spending time with her. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she was going through a terrible break-up when they met, he may have developed a crush on her himself.

Which he totally didn’t have. 

She knew too much about him anyway… like the fact that he sang in the shower, and how he hated the smell of pickles and couldn’t eat them on anything. She knew about his inability to cook, unless it was on the grill. She had even taken to teasing him about his limited wardrobe, and the way he never changed the style of his hair. _Of course_ he didn’t have a crush on her. That would be weird… right?

Though disappointed, Bulda smiled at him. “Then I’ll just have to help you win her over.”

“Wait… what?”

Before he could ask her what she meant by that, his mother gave a little jump when a timer in the kitchen went off and she bolted from the door, leaving him alone to wonder if he had tempered the storm, or riled it up even further.

***

When he got back to the living room, Anna breathed an obvious sigh of relief. She was surrounded by his nieces and nephews, all vying for her attention and trying to talk to her. Knowing how exhausting that got after only a few minutes, he took a seat next to her on the loveseat and tried to pull some of the attention off of her.

“Hey guys, how about we give Anna some space. We want her to like us enough to come back, right?”

Okay, so he was lying through his teeth. He knew that it really didn’t matter how great she was treated, the likelihood of her coming back to visit his family was slim. Even as his best friend, coming to family dinners or whatever would be a stretch. Apparently he was willing to do just about anything if it made him feel more comfortable. And what did that say about him as a person? Was all of this really worth the explanations later about why things didn’t “work out”? He wasn’t even sure anymore. 

But one thing was the truth… he liked having her here. Anna’s smile and laughter made him feel more at home here than he had since moving out. Just seeing her in the middle of his nieces and nephews warmed him all the way through. It was like she belonged here. He didn’t want to come back without her.

The realization completely blindsided him. 

When had she changed from his best friend into someone he didn’t want to go home without? When had he started thinking that kissing her might not be so bad? And what about the fact that part of him wished his mother had been right and they were already sleeping together? Was this the real reason he had asked her to be his fake girlfriend? 

Part of him was just a little curious to see how she fit in with his family. The other part already _knew_ deep down that he wasn’t interested in being set up, because he was already interested in _her_. 

It was why he had been questioning himself and tamping down even the _thought_ he could care about her as more than just a friend. He was already pretty sure what her answer would be (her hesitancy to come with him and the refusal to kiss him hung heavy in his heart), and he wasn’t willing to risk their friendship. Having her as a friend was better than not having her in his life at all. So, he would act like he didn’t know his own feelings. He would get through this holiday. And then he would force himself to go back to looking at her as no more than his neighbor and a friend.

It was better that way. Really.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t realized that all the kids had left for the kitchen and he and Anna were alone in the living room. He shook his head to rid him of the gloom that had settled over him at his sudden understanding, and turned to look at the girl who was still sitting on the sofa next to him.

“Kristoff? Are you okay?” Her hand found his and she squeezed it hard. “You kinda disappeared there.”

Forcing a smile, he removed his hand as gently as he could from hers. It was better to reduce the amount of time they spent touching. It would hurt less after this was all over. “Sorry about that. I just felt bad for what I said to the kids. It’s not like I can keep forcing you to come back, so it wasn’t okay to get their hopes up.”

Her smile dimmed a bit and she pulled away from him. “It’s a normal thing to say under the circumstances. They probably won’t even remember me by the time you have a real girlfriend.”

_A real girlfriend._

He swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably true. They’re kids, after all. Short attention spans.”

“So, um…” Anna fiddled with her hands and dropped her eyes to her lap. “I think we should head into the dining room. Dinner seems to be ready.”

“Sure.” What else was there to say? No need to keep talking about a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere.

Together they made their way in silence to the dining room. It wouldn’t have been hard to find, even if it hadn’t been his childhood home, because the noise coming from that part of the house was almost deafening. Even after their conversation in the living room, they didn’t seem to be late. His siblings were still trying to get all the kids into their seats and quieted down, so there wasn't room for them to squeeze inside. Awkwardly, they stood in the hall, waiting for space to open up at the table when one of the kids noticed them and began to point excitedly.

“Kristoff and Anna are under the mistletoe!”

In a panic, Kristoff’s eyes traveled up to the ceiling above them. Sure enough, the sprig of green leaves and white berries hung in the entryway, mocking him. He turned a glare on his mother, but Bulda just grinned and shrugged as if to say “how did that get there?” Obviously she had decided to give him a little _help_ after their conversation in the guest bedroom. It was help that he really, _really_ didn’t need right now. 

Silence filled the room after that little announcement, but Kristoff was incapable of feeling it. His insides churned, his heart raced, his limbs grew cold. Everything inside him was in opposition to everything else. It was like every cell in his body was rioting. 

He turned to apologize, but was caught off guard when Anna’s hands grabbed his shirt and yanked him forward. Before he could blink, her lips were hot and hungry on his. Part of him wanted to push her away and ask what she was thinking when she had already told him there would be no kissing… but the other part was louder, and that was what had him wrapping his arms around her waist to bring her hard against his chest. He thought he could hear his family cat-calling, but it was washed away by the pounding of his heart. All he could think about was the girl in his arms that was kissing him like her life depended on it.

That… and wondering how he could possibly let her walk away now that he knew how perfectly she fit against him.


	9. All I Want For Christmas is You (Part Four)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sleeping arrangements put Anna and Kristoff in a difficult spot... especially with that kiss hanging over their heads.

_Anna_ had kissed him.

Anna had _kissed_ him.

Anna had kissed _him_. 

His brain was fuzzy as she pulled away, her eyes looking anywhere but at him. It was impossible to think clearly, because her kiss had blown literally every thought from his mind. The only thing he could manage was to wonder _why_ she had kissed him. If she was so against it, if it had been her _one_ stipulation for agreeing to come with him… why had she been the one to initiate it?

“Don’t just stand in the hallway, come sit down. It’s time for dinner.”

Kristoff’s eyes shot to his mother, and he cringed at the smugness etched into every line of her face. She had orchestrated the whole thing and clearly thought she had done a good job. What she couldn’t possibly understand was that she had made everything so much more complicated. They couldn’t just part ways now with a wave and a smile! He knew how it felt to hold her, knew how right and perfect it was. Letting her go after that kiss? _Impossible_. So what was he going to do?

“Can we have a minute?” He knew it was rude to the rest of his family, but he doubted he would get through dinner if he couldn’t talk to Anna about what happened right away. 

Anna bit her lip and nodded, but his mother intervened before she could even take a step toward him. “You two will have all the time you need to talk tonight after you tuck in. Right now it’s dinner time, so get seated.” 

Her tone left no room for argument. In his parent’s home, his mother’s word was law. So, he and Anna did as they were told and sat for dinner. It was strange, but for the first time ever eating his mother’s home cooking… he couldn’t manage to taste a single thing.

***

Trying to get Anna alone after dinner may have been one of the most difficult tasks of his life. As soon as the kids asked to be excused, she offered to help his father with the dishes. Then it was time for the annual Christmas Eve boxes for all the kids, and in the midst of squeals of delight over new pajamas, books and a Christmas movie to watch before bed, he couldn’t get her attention then either. So, he resolved to take his car for the Christmas light viewing and finally get the two of them alone in a place she couldn’t run away… and damn his siblings for having _minivans_ , because they were pushed into two available seats and surrounded by his family for another hour and a half. 

By the time they got back home, it had been almost 3 hours since their kiss, which made it increasingly difficult to bring up. While she had seemed at least willing to discuss what had happened before dinner, as time went by without them being able to talk alone, she seemed to be looking for reasons to escape him. The whole situation was driving him crazy!

“Anna dear, I’m sure you’d like to freshen up and get comfortable for the evening. You can have the bathroom next,” Bulda said as a welcome when they came back from looking at lights. “You are our guest, and we want you to feel comfortable.”

“Oh, all right,” Anna smiled hesitantly. “What room can I change in?”

“Didn’t we tell you when you got here?” Bulda looked over Anna’s shoulder at Kristoff, that knowing smile back on her lips. “You and Kristoff will be staying in his old room, of course! If he wants to get your bags out of the cab of his truck, you guys can unpack and get comfortable in there. It’s the furthest room in the back on the left.”

“Wait… what?!” Kristoff stepped around Anna to face his mother, surprise and horror flooding his senses. “We can’t sleep in the same room!”

Anna’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “He’s right, we really can’t.”

“I can sleep on the sofa tonight!” Kristoff suggested, desperate for a way out of this situation.

“James is sleeping on the couch,” Bulda said with a shake of her head, dashing his hopes. “We are putting the kids in his room so we don’t have to worry about them waking up when ‘Santa’ is putting the gifts under the tree.”

“Well, I’ll sleep in the recliner then!” Kristoff tried again, but to no avail. His mother was bound and determined to get the two of them moving in the direction she thought they should go.

“Oh, nonsense!” Bulda laughed and waved away their protests with a flick of her wrist. “You’re both adults, aren’t you? It’s fine. Cliff and I don’t worry about that kind of thing anymore.”

There was a long moment of silence as Kristoff tried to process the realization that his mother was happily suggesting he take Anna to bed. It was such a surreal experience that he had no frame of reference for how to deal with. Anna didn’t seem to have the same hesitancy though. She squared her shoulders, slipped her hand into his and gave Bulda a forced smile.

“All right, that’ll be fine,” she conceded graciously.

“It will?” First a kiss and now this? What was she thinking?

“It will,” she said firmly. “Now, let’s go get our bags and take them to our room. I think we need some time to relax before joining everyone for cookies and a movie, don’t you?”

“Um… I… I guess?” He honestly had no idea what was going through her mind, but her smile was slipping fast, so he knew better than to argue with her. She did have a red-head’s temper, after all. And besides, if they went back to his room they would be alone. Finally. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Anna tugged his hand and herded him out the door, but not before he saw his mother wink at him first.

***

As soon as the door to his childhood bedroom shut behind them, Anna spun to face him, her blue eyes cold and sharp like ice. “You didn’t tell me we’d be sharing a room!” Her finger jabbed him in the chest, and he could feel the tip of her nail digging into his skin. 

“I didn’t know! I thought Marissa and her family weren’t going to be able to make it this year. There should have been plenty of room for everyone,” he said in his defense, holding up his hands in front of him to try and deflect any more attacks.

“This is just great,” she moaned, throwing her hands up in the air in that dramatic way she had. “First the mistletoe and now this! I should have just said no…”

Kristoff’s heart skipped a beat when she brought up the mistletoe. Was now the right time to discuss it? They were _finally_ alone. There might not be a better time.

As if all the events of the day had suddenly fallen on him at once, his shoulders slumped and he let out an exhausted sigh. It wasn’t supposed to have been like this. They should have been laughing with his family, enjoying their time together and making memories that they could tease each other with later. He should have been able to wrap his arm around her shoulders and have her snuggle in. It was the most he had hoped for after she had put the restriction on kissing… and in the process made him extremely aware of her lips. Instead, the whole day had been one stress after another. He was tired of it, and definitely too tired to argue with her about it.

“Yeah, speaking of that…” He moved to his bed and sat down. For this conversation, he felt like having something solid underneath him was probably the best. “Anna, you said yourself that kissing was off limits. If that’s the case, why did you do it? I could have come up with some excuse.”

“Everyone was staring at us,” she shrugged, but he saw the way she bit her lip. It was a tell-tale sign that there was more she wasn’t saying. 

“I’m not going to push you to tell me if you don’t want to. But you could have pecked me on the cheek, it could have been a simple thing… and you were the one who made it more than that,” he pointed out. “That kiss was _intense_ , Anna. I’m not going to be able to just forget it now.”

Anna sighed, and he thought he heard her mumble something under her breath. Before he could ask if he had heard her correctly, she began rummaging in her bags for her clothes. “I’m going to take a shower. We can rejoin your family when I’m done.” And then she was gone, leaving him with an aching worry gnawing at his insides.

Kristoff put his face in his hands and fell backward onto the bed, a groan on his lips. He couldn’t stop thinking about the words he had thought he heard, and the possibilities they entailed.

_“Me neither.”_

He was _sure_ that’s what she said before she fled the room and his company. But… that couldn’t be right.

Could it?


	10. All I Want For Christmas is You (Part Five)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sugar cookies and confessions

“Okay, so now we’re making cookies at eight in the evening… Does your family ever take a breath?”

While the kids were watching the newest version of The Grinch in the living room, most of the adults were in the kitchen with cookie cutters, tubes of frosting and sprinkles, making cookies for Santa Claus and consumption by all the next day. His siblings laughed and sung off-key carols and kept smudging each other in the face with icing… but honestly, it was kind of nice to be surrounded by his family right now. After that tense conversation with Anna in their room, he could barely look her in the eye. Here in the kitchen though, it was impossible not to fall back into the comforting banter of his childhood. It made it easy to smile and bump her hip in the playful way they usually had together.

“Actually this is pretty mild for us,” he said airily, his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh. “From the first day of December until everyone goes to bed on Christmas night, it’s usually like an explosion of activities. Sorry if we’ve worn you out.”

Anna was quiet for a minute as she looked around the kitchen and the insanity of having almost a dozen adults all talking over each other and attempting to outdo the others in cookie design. If he hadn’t grown up with it, Kristoff wondered what it might have felt like to him. Would it be claustrophobic? Exhausting? Would he have been able to hold his own? It made him wonder what Anna was feeling, being such a small person in this loud and enormous group. 

“Actually,” she said so quietly that he had to lean down to hear her over the noise, “since my parents died it’s just been my sister and I. We usually go out to dinner, or order in. This is pretty wonderful. You’re really lucky to have this every year, Kristoff.”

“Ah, yeah… I am,” he agreed, looking over at his parents pulling cookie trays out of the oven. They smiled at each other, and he watched as his mother stood on her tiptoes and stole a kiss from his father, causing him to blush. Like father like son, apparently. Neither of them stood a chance against the tiny women that held their hearts.

It was pretty amazing to see the two of them so in love after all the years they had been together. After adopting half a dozen children, raising them all, and all the trials and tribulations that came with living a life, they were still going strong. It was something he knew now that he wanted… but only with Anna. If it was her, they could laugh their way through whatever came. If it was for her, he would be willing to brave whatever storms life threw at them. 

Why had it taken the threat of losing her to realize it?

“Kristoff, I think that cookie has enough icing,” Bulda said as she came to check on how things were going in the decorating section. 

He looked down and saw that the cookie that had looked like a tree when it came out of the oven, now resembled a green brick almost as big as his hand. A flush crept up his skin as he grabbed another cookie and tried to scrape some of the icing from the “tree” onto an ornament. “Sorry, I guess I was a little lost in thought,” he apologized with a sigh.

“Would it have to do with the pretty red-head who can’t stop sneaking peeks at you when you aren’t looking?” His mother whispered in his ear.

“She isn’t.” He knew that much. It was a surprise that she hadn’t demanded to go home after their earlier conversation, but that didn’t mean she was _happy_ to be there with him. If his mother thought she saw something, it was probably her over-active, romantic imagination.

“She is,” Bulda pressed on, nudging him in the side with her elbow. “I’ve been watching. She can’t keep her eyes off you. It’s no surprise after that kiss earlier.”

Wait… she _was_? Casually he peeked over to where Anna was decorating cookies next to him and found her eyes focused on him. The moment their eyes connected, Anna flushed a deep pink and scurried across the kitchen and away from where he was. That blush told him everything that their failed conversation hadn’t. Was it any wonder his heart was trying to jump out of his chest?

“See, I told you,” Bulda teased and made her way back to her husband’s side.

He was suddenly _very_ eager to call it a day.

***

It took another two hours to get the kids tucked into bed, and by that point even Kristoff was exhausted. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about Santa duty this year, so he was free and clear to take Anna’s hand and lead her back to the bedroom they would share for this one night. Just one. It was the only chance he had to clear the air and let her know how he was feeling. If he didn’t, they might go back to being just neighbors and not really interact again.

It was something he couldn’t handle now that he knew how much he cared about her. 

After they entered the room, Anna crossed to the bed, and sat down with a loud and petulant sigh. “We probably should talk about all this, right?”

“I tried to talk to you earlier, but you didn’t seem interested,” he pointed out as he sat next to her. “Like I said before, I don’t want to push you, but I feel like we aren’t going to be able to even go back to being _friends_ if we can’t talk about that kiss.”

She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, looking for all the world like a lost child. Somehow, this situation had done that to her. _He_ had done that to her. Anna was scared and sad and lost… and it was his fault. All he wanted to do was reach out and hold her, but he had no idea if that would make things worse. He only had a few hours left. Worse was not something he could work with.

“When did you get so observant?” Anna moaned, burying her face behind her knees.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been friends for a year now, Kristoff, and up until now you haven’t noticed me as anything but someone to get coffee with. It’s why I was so surprised that you asked me to come with you and play your girlfriend… I honestly thought I just wasn’t your type at all,” Anna explained in a voice muffled by her legs.

“Anna, I…” He what? What could he say in this situation? She wasn’t wrong, was she? Up until he genuinely started thinking about what kinds of things they would have to do as a couple, he hadn’t thought of _anyone_ that way. And maybe it was on purpose. If he _had_ taken notice of her, he would have been crushed because she clearly wasn’t interested when they first met. But, that had been quite awhile at this point. It seemed like she was over her bad breakup if she was wondering what _his_ type was. How could he have only realized today that it was her?

Holy hell his mind was messed up. There were too many thoughts running around in there, too many questions, too many signs he should have seen…. Both about his feelings for her and about her feelings for him. It was honestly too much. He needed to go and clear his thoughts before he said or did something he would regret.

“I think I’m going to go and sleep on the living room floor. You can have my bed,” he explained as he began to grab his pillow and a spare blanket.

“Wait, don’t leave!” Anna reached out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, tugging hard to keep him with her. “I didn’t say it to upset you! I was just trying to explain where my head is at!”

“If I stay, I’m going to want to kiss you again!” He shouted.

Both of them froze in place at his words. He hadn’t meant to say that, to let her know that she had affected him so much that he couldn’t think straight when he was with her. Knowing that she might feel the same way, he understood that it was dangerous if he slept next to her. Even if he didn’t have any experience with women, it didn’t matter. He was still a man, and _as_ a man… he wanted her. He couldn’t trust himself not to do anything if she gave him even the slightest impression that she was willing.

“I want you to stay,” she whispered.

He turned and they stared at each other for a long moment, each feeling the other out. Anna’s eyes were a bit wide and wild, but her lips were soft and slightly parted, like she was begging him to kiss her again. It took everything in him not to push her over onto her back and kiss her senseless, right there on his childhood bed. If she really was willing, that could come later. Right now he needed to know what she was thinking, even if he had to pull the words from her one by one.

“Why do you want me to stay? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to kiss me in the first place? Anna… I need to know what you want. Please.”

Tears filled her eyes, but this time she didn’t look away. She held his gaze and finally answered his question. “Kristoff, I was scared that if I kissed you, I wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that I’m in love with you!”

And there it was.

Even though he had suspected it, even though it had been looking him in the face all day long, it still hit him in the gut and left him breathless for several long moments. When he could finally speak, all he could manage was: “You… _love_ me?”

She nodded and let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. For a while now.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to ruin our friendship! Spending time with you is the best part of my week. I couldn’t lose that if I confessed and you turned me down!” One tear trailed down her cheek at her words and he reached out to wipe it away, but then hesitantly pulled his hand back.

He really _had_ been blind, hadn’t he? By closing his eyes and telling himself he didn’t need anyone, he had missed out on the one person he couldn’t live without. Not only was she his best friend, she was _more_. Anna was the _one_.

“So, if you didn’t want to ruin our friendship, why _did_ you kiss me?” He needed to hear her answer before he took even one more step toward her and pulled her into his arms. If she really didn’t want to continue from that kiss, if she didn’t want him after all because he was an _idiot_ … he needed to know now.

“Because I thought it may be my only chance to _ever_ kiss you and suddenly I had to know what it was like,” she admitted, wiping her own tears from her cheeks with the heel of her palm. “It would have been my life’s big unanswered question.”

“And what about now?” He pressed, hating the fact that he took a step toward her and couldn’t stop himself. 

“Now?”

There were a dozen questions he wanted to ask, and several managed to slip from his tongue all at once. “How do you feel about me now? After all the events of today, where do you want to go from here? Friends or more?”

“I don’t want to lose my best friend,” she whispered as she wiped away another tear.

His heart heart dropped into his stomach, leaving him breathless once again and just a little bit sick. “Okay, yeah. That’s probably…”

“Kristoff, I don’t want to lose my best friend,” Anna repeated, stretching her hand out to him, “but I also don’t want to waste this chance that we could be happy in a relationship either.”

Hope flared through him and he strode toward the bed, leaning over, placing his hands on each side of her on the bed and getting so close their lips were only inches apart. “Anna, you are _still_ my best friend and that will _never_ change. But I want what you want. Is it really too much to ask you to be my girlfriend as well as my best friend?”

She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his in a kiss that was softer than the one they shared earlier, but also more intimate in a way that was hard to put words to. When she pulled away she was smiling. “I’ll do it on one condition,” she said softly, her words echoing those she said when she agreed to be his fake girlfriend for this trip.

“What’s the condition?”

Her hands slid into his hair and she pulled him downward until they were lying together on the bed. “Bring me back here next year? This time for real?”

“I promise. You’re the only one for me, now and always,” he agreed. 

With that said, talking was unimportant. All that mattered was that they knew how the other felt, and they had at least a few hours to themselves before Christmas morning. 

Which gave them just enough time to practice their unwrapping skills...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader, I do apologize for the lack of "and there was only one bed!" trope that I clearly set up in the previous chapter. I admit that I went into this last part with that in mind... but once they got into the room alone, feelings kind of poured out and it ended up going in a different direction. If you were disappointed, I'm really, really sorry. It wasn't my intention to set things up and then ignore it that way, but sometimes things happen while writing and what you planned goes out the window. I do hope that you enjoyed this mini-fic and will have the happiest of holidays <3


	11. All I Want For Christmas is You (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year later, Kristoff fulfills his promise of bringing Anna back for his family Christmas.

It was Christmas morning, and all was _not_ still in the Bjorgman household.

Anna was curled up in Kristoff’s lap as they watched Bulda break up a fight over who got to pass out presents before the honor was given to the oldest grandchild. It was something he was familiar with, but he still enjoyed watching it. Knowing the kids wanted to be part of the joy of the morning warmed him even more than the mug of cocoa he was sharing with Anna. It even made getting woken up by kids jumping on their bed at a quarter to five worth it.

Well, almost.

“I really hope you like your gift,” Anna said, snuggling into him and smiling a bit smugly. They both considered the gift they had bought for the other to be the ‘best gift they had ever gotten’ and it had been a running joke between them for the last month that each of them thought their gift was better. But the joke was on her, because Kristoff knew there was no way she could top his gift. 

“I have the box of tissues ready for when you open yours,” Kristoff grinned back and tapped the unopened box he had brought into the living room with him. “You’ll probably end up using all of this.”

“I don’t know,” Anna teased, “you might want to save a few for yourself.”

Kristoff pulled her close and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Honestly, he didn’t care what was under the tree. Seeing the look on her face when she opened his present was just a bonus. All that really mattered was having the memories of the past year together, and looking forward to all the years to come. If he had that, it would be all he ever needed.

Gift opening was pretty uneventful at first. The children all squealed and proudly showed off whatever new toy they unwrapped, the adults gave heartfelt thanks for sweaters, books, and games. Nothing seemed like it was a Christmas out of the ordinary until the number of boxes under the tree began dwindling, and Anna began fidgeting in his lap. Her face absolutely glowed with excitement, and she couldn’t stop the excited wiggle she always did when she was losing her battle to keep something a secret. Even if having her was enough, her excitement over the gift was infectious and he grew increasingly interested to see just what could cause this sort of reaction from her.

“This one is for Anna!” 

As she was handed the small box, Anna looked up at him with a wry smile. “Do you have my tissues ready, just in case?”

He waved the box in the air and she chuckled before ripping the paper away to reveal the small velvet box that could only hold one thing. Her hand shook as she pushed open the lid with her thumb, revealing a small platinum band with a cushion cut diamond sparkling up at her. While she was stunned by the ring, he moved her off his lap and knelt down to the ground in front of her. When he did so, the reality of the situation moved like a whirlwind through the room and a smattering of gasps gave way to silence. 

“Anna, this last year with you has been the best of my life. You are my best friend, the love of my life and the only person I ever want to share it with. I love you more than I could have ever imagined… will you marry me?”

Tears welled up in her eyes, brimmed over her lids and spilled down her cheeks. There was a long pause as she opened and closed her mouth, the tears still running in rivers and dripping off her chin. Finally, the words came and they were filled with so much joy that he choked back a tear as well. “Of course I will!”

Still clinging to the ring box, she threw her arms around his neck and fell into his embrace. He kissed her cheek, her hair, her neck… every part of her that he could reach was fair game while she hugged him harder than she ever had before. It was difficult to push her back enough that he could reach her lips, but once he did she threw as much enthusiasm into this kiss as she had the mistletoe kiss that had started it all.

His family cheered and clapped as they broke apart, grinning at each other. Kristoff handed Anna the box of tissues, and she laughed as she pulled some out to clean herself up. “You were right, I did need the tissues,” she admitted, her voice shaky as the tears continued to come.

“So, did I win?” He asked, not really caring about winning or losing but whether or not she was happy.

“Actually… it might be a tie,” she laughed. “Can we get Kristoff’s gift from me? I figure if we have the tissues out already, this might be the perfect time.”

It took a moment, but the gift was found and brought over to him. Without hesitating he pulled the wrapping off and looked at the small ornament nestled in tissue paper. As gently as he could with his too large fingers, he pulled the glass bauble out to give it a better look. The first thing he noticed was that the year printed on it was for the following year. Then, his eyes traveled down to the delicately etched writing that said: Baby’s First Christmas.

His eyes widened and his gaze shot to Anna. “Baby…? You’re…?” He couldn’t even manage to get the words out as the news sank in.

“Let’s call it a tie,” she suggested, taking the ornament from him and putting it back in the box to keep it safe.

When the cheering started up again, Kristoff scooped Anna up in his arms and spun her around, unable to contain his joy. A baby! They were going to have a baby! He could never have imagined last year when he asked her to be his fake girlfriend that they would end up here a year later… engaged, with a baby on the way.

“A tie,” he agreed and then pulled her in for a celebratory kiss.


End file.
